Genetic and phenotypic analysis of the pathogenic potential of two novel Chlamydia gallinacea strains compared to Chlamydia psittaci

Marloes Heijne; Martina Jelocnik; Alexander Umanets; Michael S. M. Brouwer; Annemieke Dinkla; Frank Harders; Lucien J. M. van Keulen; Hendrik Jan Roest; Famke Schaafsma; Francisca C. Velkers; Jeanet A. van der Goot; Yvonne Pannekoek; Ad P. Koets

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-95966-9

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Genetic and phenotypic analysis of the pathogenic potential of two novel Chlamydia gallinacea strains compared to Chlamydia psittaci

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Genetic and phenotypic analysis of the pathogenic potential of two novel Chlamydia gallinacea strains compared to Chlamydia psittaci

Marloes Heijne, Martina Jelocnik, Alexander Umanets, Michael S. M. Brouwer, Annemieke Dinkla, Frank Harders, Lucien J. M. van Keulen, Hendrik Jan Roest, Famke Schaafsma, Francisca C. Velkers, …

Scientific Reports, Vol.11(1), pp.1-12

2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-95966-9

PMCID: PMC8363750

PMID: 34389764

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Abstract

Genetics

Microbiology

Biological techniques

Diseases

Chlamydia gallinacea is an obligate intracellular bacterium that has recently been added to the family of Chlamydiaceae. C. gallinacea is genetically diverse, widespread in poultry and a suspected cause of pneumonia in slaughterhouse workers. In poultry, C. gallinacea infections appear asymptomatic, but studies about the pathogenic potential are limited. In this study two novel sequence types of C. gallinacea were isolated from apparently healthy chickens. Both isolates (NL_G47 and NL_F725) were closely related to each other and have at least 99.5% DNA sequence identity to C. gallinacea Type strain 08-1274/3. To gain further insight into the pathogenic potential, infection experiments in embryonated chicken eggs and comparative genomics with Chlamydia psittaci were performed. C. psittaci is a ubiquitous zoonotic pathogen of birds and mammals, and infection in poultry can result in severe systemic illness. In experiments with embryonated chicken eggs, C. gallinacea induced mortality was observed, potentially strain dependent, but lower compared to C. psittaci induced mortality. Comparative analyses confirmed all currently available C. gallinacea genomes possess the hallmark genes coding for known and potential virulence factors as found in C. psittaci albeit to a reduced number of orthologues or paralogs. The presence of potential virulence factors and the observed mortality in embryonated eggs indicates C. gallinacea should rather be considered as an opportunistic pathogen than an innocuous commensal.

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Title: Genetic and phenotypic analysis of the pathogenic potential of two novel Chlamydia gallinacea strains compared to Chlamydia psittaci
Authors: Marloes Heijne (Author) - Wageningen University & Research
Martina Jelocnik (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, GeneCology Research Centre - Legacy
Alexander Umanets (Author) - Wageningen University & Research
Michael S. M. Brouwer (Author) - Wageningen University & Research
Annemieke Dinkla (Author) - Wageningen University & Research
Frank Harders (Author) - Wageningen University & Research
Lucien J. M. van Keulen (Author) - Wageningen University & Research
Hendrik Jan Roest (Author) - Wageningen University & Research
Famke Schaafsma (Author) - Wageningen University & Research
Francisca C. Velkers (Author) - Utrecht University
Jeanet A. van der Goot (Author) - Wageningen University & Research
Yvonne Pannekoek (Author) - Amsterdam UMC - Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Ad P. Koets (Author) - Utrecht University
Publication details: Scientific Reports, Vol.11(1), pp.1-12
Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
Date published: 2021
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-95966-9
ISSN: 2045-2322
PMID: 34389764; PMC8363750
Copyright note: © The Author(s) 2021. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Organisation Unit: University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Science, Technology and Engineering; Centre for Bioinnovation
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99569208302621
Output Type: Journal article

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